DRAFT

AUGUST 27

#02

ANNUAL REPORT

2014-2015

CONTACT

taylor.tulane.edu

200 Flower Hall

Tulane University

6823 Saint Charles AvenueNew Orleans, LA 70118taylor@tulane.edu504-314-7069

Printed on Mohawk Options 100% Post-Consumer Waste with soy-based ink.

FSC Certified, Green Seal Certified, Green-e Certified, and manufactured with wind-generated electricity.

Dissolving BoundariesInspiring Collaboration

Exploring Scalable Solutions

DRAFT

AUGUST 27

#02

Academics

Student Programming

Design Thinking

Updates & Enhancements

Scholarship & Engagement

PROGRAMS

DEVELOPMENTS

HIGHLIGHTS

16

4

10

14

5

4

2

CONTENTS

MISSION

The Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking dissolves boundaries and catalyzes members of the Tulane Community to create ethical, sustainable, and scalable solutions to pressing social and environmental challenges. Our university-wide, interdisciplinary initiatives are grounded in the teaching, research, and practice of social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and design thinking.

BACKGROUND

Founded in 2014, Taylor coalesces the Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship

(SISE) minor and co-curricular offerings in social innovation, social entrepreneurship,

and design thinking, providing a platform for transdisciplinary, creative thought and

action in our local and global community.

The center’s design thinking framework establishes a deeply human-centered,

iterative, and experimental approach to addressing social and environmental

challenges that engages experts, non-experts, and the users of proposed solutions.

Drawing on design thinking, Taylor connects scientific research, academic scholarship,

innovative teaching, and lived experiences. Taylor aims to help cultivate mindsets,

discover new learning, and diffuse social innovations in an inquisitive, persistent, and

humble manner that brings value to the world.

1

Institutionalized deeper

community engagement

in social innovation and

design thinking by launching

Tulane Grand Challenges,

supported by Phyllis M. Taylor

HIGHLIGHTS

2009

2010 2011

Cultivated strategic

funding to develop a

university-wide program in

social entrepreneurship

Developed co-curricular programs

with the NewDay Speaker Series

and NewDay Challenge, with

support from Stan and Dana Day

Recognized as a Changemaker

Campus by Ashoka U

Created an innovation-based academic agenda

with the Sacks Endowed Distinguished Chair in

Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship,

supported by Michael J. Sacks

Established a core of social

innovation (SI) programs in

the Tulane Center for Engaged

Learning and Teaching (CELT)

Appointed Dr. Rick Aubry

as Assistant Provost for

Civic Engagement and

Social Entrepreneurship,

leading SE professors,

Encore, and the Water Prize

TAYLOR has grown into a powerful, intertwined strategy that includes a wide range of

2

develop a university-wide program in

social entrepreneurship, we have worked to

integrate diverse pockets of creative, solution-

oriented activities across campus. A variety of

departments and centers have worked together

to ensure that we are realizing Tulane’s vision

to represent the best of the modern research

university, anticipating and meeting national

and societal needs at the dawn of the 21st

century and beyond.

SINCE GAINING STRATEGIC FUNDING to

2013

2014

2015

Secured funding for

The Phyllis M. Taylor Center

for Social Innovation and

Design Thinking

Named Kenneth Schwartz the

Sacks Endowed Distinguished

Chair in Civic Engagement

and Social Entrepreneurship

and Director of the Taylor

Center for Social Innovation

and Design Thinking

Merged CELT-SI with Taylor,

centralizing all curricular

and co-curricular offerings

in social innovation, social

entrepreneurship, and

design thinking within one

university-wide center

Appointed Dr. Anna

Monhartova,

SISE Program Director,

to lead the SISE Minor

Enhanced student social

venture support with the

Alvarez Spark Innovation

Awards, established

by Victor C. Alvarez

Launched interdisciplinary,

university-wide Social innovation

and Social Entrepreneurship

(SISE) undergraduate minor—

one of the first undergraduate

minors in social innovation

and social entrepreneurship

in the United States

2012

academic and research opportunities, student-led activi-ties, and community partnerships.

3

CLASSROOM SEATS

SISE MINORSDECLARED increase

since 13-14

increase since 13-14

were filled by

UNIQUE STUDENTS

PROGRAMS

SISE MINOR

The SISE minor consists of six courses including:

Introduction to SISE; Introduction to Business for SISE;

Design Thinking for Collective Impact; Leadership for

Collective Impact; Senior Elective; and Senior Seminar.

SISE students completed a total of 3,930 service learn-

ing hours in the 2014-2015 school year, partnering with

local non-profit organizations including: Grow Dat Youth

Farm; A’s & Aces; Playworks; Tulane City Center; Backyard

Gardeners Network; St. Margaret’s at Mercy; Propeller: A

Force for Social Innovation; Where Y’at; Foundation for the

Conservation of the Tropical Andes; Audubon Nature Insti-

tute; NOLA Time Bank; Lusher Elementary School; Homer

Plessey Charter School; St. Martin School; and Fund 17.

Previous partners include: Harmony Neighborhood Devel-

opment, LifeCity, Our School at Blair Grocery, The Birthing

Project, and Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

ACADEMICS In Fall 2012, Tulane launched one of the first

undergraduate minors in social innovation and

social entrepreneurship in the United States.

323

130

296

IN

2014-2015

GRADUATING STUDENTS

WITH SISE MINORS

60%

29% 91%

May 2015

18

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STUDENT PROGRAMING

Taylor provides programming for Tulane

students, faculty, and staff as well as for the

community. Student programs consist of for-

credit academic opportunities and co-curricular

organizations, competitions, and fellowships.

IGNITE: COMMUNITY. CREATIVITY. CHANGE.

Ignite is a pre-orientation program that connects first-

year students to people, resources, and opportunities to

help them become agents of change at Tulane, in New

Orleans, and around the world. This past year, student

programming partnered with the Center for Public Service

(CPS) and the Office of Multicultural Affairs (The O) to

offer the first expanded Ignite track to over 50 students.

In 2015, Ignite will serve 60 students and add a new on-

campus partner, the Murphy Institute.

SI SYMPOSIUM

The Social Innovation (SI) Symposium seeks grounded,

collaborative, place-based, action research that tackles

complex problems facing 21st century global communities

such as New Orleans. Now in its second year, the 2015 SI

Symposium featured NewDay Speaker and social impact

scholar Jane Wei Skillern, PhD. The graduate student-led

panels drew over 60 attendees, including students from

Tulane, Loyola, and the University of New Orleans. Leaders

from the local community were also in attendance,

representing diverse organizations such as: TrueSchool

Studio; Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation; The

Southern History Project; St. Martin’s Episcopal School; The

Cookbook Project, and the Chicago Public Education Fund.

SPEAKERS AND EVENTS

In the 2014–15 school year, CELT-SI hosted 8 events

with 6 partner organizations. This year’s list of partners

included: the SISE Minor; the Office of Multicultural Affairs;

the Levy Rosenblum Institute; Propeller: A Force for Social

Innovation; 4.0 Schools; and Tulane’s Graduate Social

Innovation Network, a graduate student organization that

seeks to expand SISE opportunities at the masters and

doctoral levels.

ASHOKA U EXCHANGE

Tulane University’s 30-person delegation at the Ashoka

U Exchange included undergraduate and graduate

students, staff and faculty, community partners, alumni,

trustees, and administrators. Additionally, Tulane

participated in the inaugural Renewal Cohort for Ashoka U

Changemaker Campuses.

Tulane University was selected as the host for the 2016

Ashoka U Exchange. Ashoka U expects 800 faculty,

administrators, staff, students, and practitioners to

convene in New Orleans for the conference. In addition to

providing financial and logistical support, Taylor is working

to highlight values of diversity, health and well-being,

sustainability, and local community engagement at the

2016 Ashoka U Exchange.

CHANGEMAKER INSTITUTE SOCIAL VENTURE INCUBATOR

Since its inception in 2010, Changemaker Institute has

supported 38 student social ventures. In 2014-2015, two

student fellows supported nine teams launching social

ventures or intrapreneurial projects that tackle real social

problems in New Orleans. This year’s cohort consisted

of 75% undergraduate and 25% graduate students and

represented almost every school at Tulane. The cohort

was particularly diverse this year, with 50% identifying

as women and 60% identifying as people of color.

Five ventures in the 2014-2015 cohort received funding to

move their ideas to action. Changemaker Institute alumni

continue to thrive after completing the program.

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FUNDING

NEWDAY CHALLENGE

The NewDay Challenge, established by Dana Leigh Day and Stanley R. Day, Jr., has

awarded $130,000 in seed funding to 14 social ventures since 2010. In 2015, stu-

dent programming awarded $35,000 to five winning ventures. Applications were

submitted from undergraduate and graduate students in business, law, medicine,

science and engineering, public health, and liberal arts.

Cookbook ProjectAlissa Bilfield

Food literacy and health education training

MicroPAD Solutions Jason Ryans and Ashwin Sivakumar

Micro-fluidics-based multi-virus rapid diagnostic tool

New Orleans Girls’ Digital Media CampJocelyn Horner

Digital literacy, storytelling, and enhanced social and emotional health among middle-school girls

Roots of Renewal Brendan Lyman

Reintegration services for the formerly incarcerated through construction work program

Fund17 Haley Burns

Microfinance and personal finance services for informal entrepreneurs

2015 VENTURES AND AWARD WINNERS

CHANGEMAKER ALUMNI UPDATES

ALUMNI UPDATES

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MicroPAD Solutions (CI ‘15) was a finalist in the Rice University and Johns Hopkins University Business Model Competitions and won funding from the Novel Tech Chal-lenge through Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering. Co-founders Jason Ryans and Ashwin Sivakumar are continuing product development of a micro-fluid-ics-based multi-virus rapid diagnostic tool.

Trash to Treasure (CI ’14) collected 25,000 pounds of gently used, unwanted residence hall items at the end of the 2013-2014 academic year, diverting that potential waste from landfills. The items were sold the following August, grossing $12,500 in the first annual sale. Profit was donated to local community organizations and the organization is planning its second sale, to take place in August, 2015.

Fund 17 (CI ’13) continued personal finance seminars and business development services with New Orleans entrepreneurs. Fund 17 has developed partnerships with Lend for America, Hope Credit Union, Operation Hope, Café Reconcile, and dozens of local entrepreneurs. Founder Haley Burns is now working on the non-profit organization full-time.

Humanure Power (CI ’13) was recently renamed Sanitation and Health Right in India (SHRI). SHRI completed its first community block of twenty biogas toilets in July 2014. They attracted over 11,000 users in the first month. In May 2015, the Indian government transferred ownership of additional land to SHRI. The organization has raised over $240,000 since 2012. Co-founder Anoop Jain writes about his work regularly in the Huffington Post.

CHANGEMAKER CATALYST AWARD

The Changemaker Catalyst Award supports experiential learning in social inno-

vation, social entrepreneurship, design thinking, and changemaking. This year,

the program was expanded to allow graduate students to access funding. About

$16,000 was awarded to 13 undergraduate and 4 graduate students.

Derek Dashti Attendance at Venture Well’s Southeast Regional to facilitate a design thinking workshop

Elias GarciaAttendance at the People’s Climate Change March

Lilah Shepard Attendance at the Media that Matters Conference

Simone BallardParticipation in the Grand Canyon Colloquium

Haley BurnsAttendance at Lend for America’s Summit for students working in microfinance in the U.S. and for office rental support

Tano Trachtenberg & Lilith Winkler-SchorAttendance at the Changemaker Summit with students from other Ashoka U Changemaker Campuses

Tano Trachtenberg, Ashwin Sivakumar, & Jessica TranAttendance at StartingBloc Institute, a nationally recognized training program that connects and develops aspiring changemakers

Tait Kellogg Participation in a social networks analysis training through the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research

Anna Hunor Participation in a practicum experience with the Uganda Village Project

Jessica LidellParticipation in a language immersion program in Guatemala

Karissa Chao Attendance at the Alternative Break Citizenship Schools Conference

Gabrielle Bloom Participation in an internship through the Israeli Consulate

Jamie Rosenberg & Alex BourguignonAttendance at the Break Away Conference

Evan WalterParticipation in an internship with PenPal Schools

ALVAREZ SPARK INNOVATION AWARD

The Alvarez Spark Innovation Award, established by Victor C. Alvarez, awards

up to $2,500 to enable students to prototype, test, or move forward specific

components of their venture idea or overcome key obstacles in growth. In 2014-

2015, $17,000 was awarded to 7 different student ventures.

The Cookbook Project, MicroPAD Solutions, New Orleans Girls’ Digital Media

Camp, and Fund 17 received Alvarez Spark Innovation Awards leading up to the

NewDay Challenge.

2015 VENTURES AND AWARD WINNERS

ImpACT Jessica Tran and Rachel Budd

Alvarez: $2,500

College admission and scholarship attainment by fostering ACT success

Birthmark Doulas Dana Keren

Alvarez: $2,500

Establishment of Louisiana’s first Milk Bank for women struggling to produce nourishing milk

Text Books Change Lauren Astrachan and Ryan WinemillerAlvarez: $750

Peer-to-peer sales of used textbooks at Tulane University

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Dr. Laura MurphyThe Carnegie Corporation Of New York Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in International Development and Design Thinking

THIS YEAR Dr. Murphy traveled to rural western Kenya to start developing human-centered design workshops with and for youth and community development agencies. Next year, Dr. Murphy will expand design thinking and social innovation learning opportunities for graduate students and professionals on and off campus. Opportunities will include the Fast 48 human-centered design boot camp and other outreach activities.

Dr. Carol WhelanThe Paul Tudor Jones II Professorship and Cole Fellow in Education and Empathy

THIS YEAR Dr. Whelan was awarded a $40,000 grant to improve the Teacher Preparation Certification Program (TPCP). The grant will enable her to pilot a one-year residency program that, if successful, would be permanently implemented into the TPCP. The funds also supported two visits to Changemaker schools, used for a research project.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROFESSORSHIPS

Donors have endowed a number of professorships in the

fields of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

These opportunities will allow selected faculty to continue

research and scholarship that contributes to their fields.

This work will eventually be diffused to the general

public through courses, lectures, field projects, new

program development, symposia, and writing. This year’s

professorships were led by Assistant Provost Dr. Rick Aubry.

NITROGEN REDUCTION GRAND CHALLENGE

Tulane’s “grand challenges” catalyze people around the

world to create and scale market-driven solutions to

significant problems affecting Louisiana and the world.

In February 2014, Phyllis M. Taylor partnered with Tulane

University and Dr. Rick Aubry, Assistant Provost for Social

Entrepreneurship and Civic Engagement, to announce a

$1 million prize for the best solution to combat annual

“dead zones” that impact the Gulf of Mexico. Hypoxia

threatens marine life, fishing community livelihoods, and

the vitality of many of the world’s lakes and oceans.

Convened by the White House Office of Science

and Technology, and led by Dr. Aubry, Tulane’s team

organized problem-solving meetings in Washington,

where participants identified how the reduction of excess

nitrogen could address hypoxia. Through partnerships

with leading experts on hypoxia and nutrient science—

and numerous other partners—the Grand Challenges then

developed the strategy for the Tulane University Nitrogen

Reduction Challenge.

After a public “open call,” the Grand Challenges team

received 100 thoughtful responses from parties interested

in participating in the competition. The prize competition

was launched in June 2015 and will span two more phases

in 2015-2016 before reaching completion in 2017.

Tulane is also soliciting resources at the local, state, and

federal level to cultivate ancillary or satellite prizes that will

support the main goal of the challenge. These prizes can

have a social focus, such as addressing behavior change,

or they can have a regional focus, such as discerning

how to capture nitrates as they near the mouth of the

Mississippi.

SCHOLARSHIP & ENGAGEMENT

Building on strengths in civic engagement and service

learning, Taylor is proud to introduce scholarship and

engagement opportunities that will inform social innovation

& social entrepreneurship programming and initiatives at

Tulane for generations to come.

1ST COHORT began in 2011

2ND COHORT began in 2012

3RD COHORT began in 2014

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Dr. Elizabeth Townsend GardThe Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in Law and Innovation

THIS YEAR Dr. Townsend Gard launched an academic lean start up, Law/Culture/Innovation (LCI). LCI is an interdisciplinary legal and cultural support space for various stage projects. LCI bridges silos by connecting individuals inside and outside of the university who would otherwise be unaware of each other.

Dr. Jordan KarubianThe Kylene and Brad Beers Professorship I & Cole Fellow in Tropical Conservation and Engaged Natural Science Scholarship

THIS YEAR Dr. Karubian deepened his community-based con-servation efforts and focused on understanding and protecting isolated patches of forest in Ecuador called “fragments.” He orga-nized local residents, university students, and professors, provid-ing them with funding for assessing diversity of flora and fauna. The information will be used to focus future conservation efforts.

Barbara Hayley, MFAThe Kylene & Brad Beers Professorship & Cole Fellow in Dance and Commu-nity Engagement through the Arts

THIS YEAR Prof. Hayley continued her work with Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute 2015 (UBW SLI), now in its 7th year. The UBW SLI is a 10-day event based in New Orleans that convenes dance and performance professionals interested in using performance as a tool for social change. The outcomes and processes of SLI were used in her SISE 2010 classes.

Dr. Lars GilbertsonThe NewDay Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in Biomedical Engineering and Design Thinking

THIS YEAR Dr. Gilbertson was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to establish and direct the Tulane Innovation-Corps Site for a Resurgent New Orleans. The Tulane I-Corps Site will expand economic development in New Orleans while reinforcing the burgeoning life sciences industry in New Orleans and the surrounding region.

Dr. Rebecca MarkThe Greenberg Family Professorship & Cole Fellow in Community Engagement Through English and the Arts, Root Cultures, and Innovative Pedagogy

THIS YEAR Dr. Mark was awarded the prestigious Tulane Weiss Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Her current work focuses on the university’s relationship with local, traditional “root” cultures. Dr. Mark will offer a symposium in the fall of 2016 to discuss possible models moving forward.

Dr. Vicki MayerThe Louise and Leonard Riggio Professorship & Carnegie Fellow in Digital Humanities Innovations

THIS YEAR Dr. Mayer launched the NOLA Digital Consortium, which unites humanities projects from regional universities, archives, and nonprofits. Dr. Mayer’s work focuses on open access digital archives that enable students and faculty to share information with researched communities, and to preserve this research for future generations.

PAST SE PROFESSORS

Nghana Lewis, Ph.D.2011-2013

Byron Mouton, AIA2011-2013

Aaron Schneider, Ph.D.2011-2012

II

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Through both academic and co-curricular learning,

students develop core competencies in empathy, humility,

creative- and visual-thinking skills, rapid prototyping

and critique, and collaboration in diverse teams. Inside

and outside the classroom, design thinking approaches

empower students, faculty, administration, staff, and

community partners to promote empathy, creative

confidence, collaboration, and social innovation.

In 2014-2015, Ann Yoachim, Visiting Professor of Practice

and Laura Murphy, Carnegie Corporation of NY Professor

of Social Entrepreneurship, led teaching, outreach, and

scholarship on design thinking for a range of campus

and community partners. Allison Schiller and Maille

Faughnan taught sections of the undergraduate design

thinking class (SISE 3010) and were involved in outreach

activities such as the Fast 48 boot camp in design

thinking. Maille Faughnan, a doctoral student, is exploring

how human-centered design is informing international

development practice.

Design thinking outreach spans short conversations, 3-

hour introductory “crash course” workshops, a 3-day boot

camp experience, as well as a semester-long undergraduate

course. Over the past year, many informational meetings

were held with community agencies, faculty, staff, and

administrators from across campus who are eager to learn

how design thinking can contribute to their work.

Tulane is uniquely positioned to infuse

design thinking into the undergraduate

liberal arts curriculum and extend

it throughout campus. Our human-

centered approach to design thinking

cultivates mindsets that embrace

ambiguity and agile thinking while

moving towards solution and action-

oriented goals. Using diverse tools

and approaches, students learn more

deeply about themselves and about

challenges in their communities.

DESIGN THINKING

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Here is a snapshot of design thinking in action at Tulane University and in New Orleans. The project entailed many conversations and workshops in partnership with Taylor.

BACKGROUND

In Spring 2014, Taylor’s Design Thinking Team held a

series of workshops and boot camps used to introduce

the Endowed Professors of Social Innovation and Social

Entrepreneurship to the design thinking process. Carol

Whelan, an Education Professor and Endowed Professor in

Social Entrepreneurship, was intrigued by the process and

helped lead a subsequent design thinking session with

the Young African Leaders Institute (YALI). Inspired by her

experience with YALI, Whelan leveraged her connections in

the community to create design thinking training and an

education boot camp for teachers across New Orleans, LA,

and Chicago, IL.

DESIGN THINKING FOR EDUCATORS

In the summer of 2014, a Curriculum Design Team

was created that represents educators from youth

development programs and Taylor, as well as: technology

and curriculum specialists, PK-12 teachers from local part-

ner schools, Tulane faculty from Liberal Arts and Sciences

departments, and education professors. Curriculum

Design Teams were given guiding questions to explore

throughout the semester. Three Innovation Interns were

hired to research issues that could inform discussion. The

teams met monthly and shared their recommendations

with the TPCP Advisory Board in December 2014.

At the first day-long meeting in early September, edu-

cators were introduced to design thinking through an

empathy exercise in which participants must interview

each other. First, teachers created "How might we…"

lists and defined problems. Next, teachers gave their

imaginations and creativity a voice by building physical

prototypes of their concepts. Finally, the teams shared

their prototypes and received feedback from the group.

Over the subsequent months, small subteams held Design

Team meetings before the whole group returned to Flower

Hall for a Design Thinking and Social Innovation follow-up

session in December 2014. Groups shared their problem

challenges and ideas for solutions. Teachers harnessed

the collective perspectives and strengths of the curriculum

design teams. Teams then continued the ideation process.

Recommendations were posted in charts, and teachers

voted on their favorite ideas using divergent and conver-

gent thinking and reflection that gave everyone a voice.

TPCP staff and design teams continued to implement

recommendations throughout spring 2015. The Design

Thinking process work culminated in the development of

a prototype for a new "Residency Program.” Later, TPCP

applied for and received a grant through the Louisiana

Department of Education that will allow it to pilot the

Residency Program this fall.

EDUCATION BOOT CAMP

Meanwhile, teachers and teacher educators were interested

in learning more about the design thinking and how it

could benefit them in their classrooms. In April, Taylor and

SE Professor Carol Whelan partnered with Garrett Mason

of St Martin’s School in New Orleans and Carla Silver of

Leadership + Design in Los Angeles, California, to hold a

boot camp for Educators at Flower Hall. With support from

a Believe and Prepare Grant, Mason and Silver were hired

to lead the session. Attendees included over 50 teachers

and leaders from Tulane and ten other schools: Lusher

Charter School, Plessy-Ferguson Charter School, Discovery

Charter, Bricolage Charter, St Martin’s, St Andrew, Holy

Rosary, Academy of Sacred Heart, The Bishop's School in

San Diego, and a middle school in Houston.

Throughout the course of the boot camp, Educators chal-

lenged themselves to "Redesign a student experience

that teaches creativity, courage, collaboration, curiosity, or

empathy." Groups empathized with users, gained insights,

defined the challenge, and ideated potential solutions.

CASE STUDY:DESIGN THINKING FOR EDUCATORS

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ENHANCEMENTS

RENOVATION OF DESIGN THINKING, DOING, AND TEACHING SPACE

With substantial growth in the SISE program and the strategic

merger between CELT-SI and Taylor, Tulane decided to undertake an

architectural redesign of Flower Hall. Fabricated under the guidance

of architect and adjunct faculty member, Marianne Desmarais, the

redesign creates additional study space and informal seating, two

additional rooms for classes, and flexible meeting space. There will

be open work space for Taylor Student Fellows, enclosed co-working

office space for Taylor staff, a Director’s office, a kitchen, and additional

storage space.

The graphics below show elements of the Phase II redesign: an internal

view of the new space, which features glass walls that maximize

simultaneous use of the space while preserving natural light and

encouraging collaboration among students, faculty and staff.

DEVELOPMENTS

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SISE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

In May 2015 a SISE Retreat brought together professors,

instructors, and staff from Taylor, the Social Innovation

and Social Entrepreneurship academic program, and the

Social Innovation Core at CELT. Attendees identified and

discussed key issues, “big ideas,” ongoing issues, changes

in staff and faculty roles, and crosscutting themes. The

group also established central learning objectives as a

way to improve the program moving forward. In 2015-

2016, the SISE team will use the theme of “inequality

and inequity” as a thread for work in academic and co-

curricular programs.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT INTERNSHIP & MENTORING

This past spring the SISE Minor successfully piloted a

service-learning internship class (SISE 4560), which

is expected to triple in enrollment in fall 2015. Taylor

is currently seeking funding to offer paid internship

experiences for students interested in developing skills

in social innovation and social entrepreneurship. The

center also seeks to formalize internship opportunities

for undergraduate students. A robust internship program

could cost $100,000 annually, including staff time.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

The Community Innovator’s Circle (CIC) is a new program

that offers a unique opportunity to support a small,

strategic cohort of innovative community organizations

through increased student engagement. Community

partners selected for this program would commit to sharing

their expertise with Taylor students through experiential

learning opportunities. The goal of the program is to

cultivate meaningful community engagement over the

entirety of a Tulane student’s academic career—not just

for one semester. A robust CIC program would cost up to

$250,000 annually, including staff time.

DESIGN THINKING

Taylor works to incorporate design thinking (DT) into

the ethos of the center, not only using DT to inform

methods and skills, but also to foster a mindset—a way

of being, thinking, and doing. Taylor hopes to extend

workshops, boot camps, and other activities to campus

and community partners. In the long term, Taylor aims

to improve the undergraduate student experience,

increasing recruitment and retention, and, ideally, earning

revenues. Faculty and staff will develop a plan for how

other departments will financially support this effort.

Design Thinking tools are useful for a broad audience and in

many contexts, from facilitating meetings, to redesigning

spaces, to solving social problems. Taylor will continue to

develop materials, language, and training experiences

that convey the value and fit of design thinking training for

different audiences, from undergraduates to professors,

campus entrepreneurs, and community partners.

UPDATES

STAFF UPDATES

As a result of the expanded mission offered through the

establishment of the center, programming underwent

a comprehensive reorganization to ensure that Taylor

is meeting the needs of the Tulane and New Orleans

community. Co-curricular programs, previously housed

under the Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching

(CELT), were incorporated into Taylor on June 1, 2015.

TAYLOR STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS

The previous CELT-SI Fellows program has evolved into

Taylor Student Fellows. Eight Fellows have been hired for the

2015-2016 academic year, including a communications

and marketing team, an expanded Changemaker Institute

team, and new areas of focus in event coordination and

design thinking.

13

DRAFT

AUGUST 27

#02

ANNUAL REPORT

2014-2015

CONTACT

taylor.tulane.edu

200 Flower Hall

Tulane University

6823 Saint Charles AvenueNew Orleans, LA 70118taylor@tulane.edu504-314-7069

Printed on Mohawk Options 100% Post-Consumer Waste with soy-based ink.

FSC Certified, Green Seal Certified, Green-e Certified, and manufactured with wind-generated electricity.

Dissolving BoundariesInspiring Collaboration

Exploring Scalable Solutions